A Bit of Dining Hall History Through the Years
It all began with sandwiches and a retrofitted wood and coal livery wagon! Through the next 125 years, Hamline Church Dining Hall has evolved from this simple fare and unique transportation to a full menu of breakfast, lunch and dinner choices. After moving from place to place on the fairgrounds from 1897, 1665 Dan Patch Avenue became its home address on the fairgrounds. A first building, purchased for $900 in 1944, was torn down in 1968 and replaced with the current building at a cost of $17,500. Hamline Church owns the building and is responsible for its maintenance; the state fair owns the land and provides guidelines for our operation.
Surely the move to a new building with relatively modern conveniences like electricity and plumbing was a significant reward for those earliest volunteers who had managed with daily ice deliveries in addition to hauling in all supplies that are now provided by our own ice making equipment and food deliveries from suppliers like Sysco.
With each passing year, modifications and improvements have enhanced the dining hall operations. By 1976, additional hot water was needed for the dishwasher. Ingenuity and volunteer labor constructed an attic over the kitchen area to provide space for a water heater and much needed storage for paper goods. In the early 80’s, a major remodeling shifted wait table service to the current serving line mode. By 1988, cash registers were installed and to meet demand for more refrigeration, a new walk-in cooler was built adjacent to the cement patio area used for receiving deliveries and providing space for volunteers to relax. To complete the extended use of the back of the building, a much-needed business office room was built in 1997.
There was significant volunteer activity as the centennial year approached. New ceiling lights and oscillating fans were installed in the dining room.
An exhaust fan installed in the rear gable drew air through the dining room to add to its comfort level on hot days. A fresh paint job, bright red curtains at the windows with red and white-checked table coverings spruced up the dining room. New red aprons for volunteers contributed to the party-look as the centennial year, 1997, was celebrated with a sidewalk program, cake and dignitaries.
Going forward from the centennial year, a number of projects have been undertaken to remain timely as a church dining hall in a state fair setting. An internet search of other state fairs suggests Hamline Church Dining Hall is unique as a full service restaurant at a state fair. Churches across the country have been active with an outdoor stand or chose to serve a specialty item or more limited menu. Here at the Minnesota State Fair, Salem Lutheran Church, famous for its Swedish egg coffee and meatballs, has continued in this vein for over 70 years. Hamline Church Dining Hall is noted for its ham loaf topped with honey-mustard sauce, a recipe shared by Gladys Helling who helped supervise the dining hall operation for 40 years beginning in the ’30s.
Each year, the dining hall committee has chosen improvements for the upkeep of the building and for adaptations to the menu. In 2012, a garage door opening was installed at the building front when Izzy’s Ice Cream became a business partner. Additionally, this offered the opportunity to increase sales of Take-Away food items. In 2018, another big ticket item was replacing the 1968 Hobart dishwasher. Repair parts were no longer available and the success of Cranberry Wild Rice Meatballs as one of the 50 New Foods of 2017 provided a huge financial boost for the $70,000 investment. 2018 was also the year when a Go Fund Me account was created to replace four kitchen ranges that were only partially operational after many years of use. By the 2019 fair, three new ranges had been successfully installed. Careful attention to on-going electrical and plumbing needs, adding commercial appliances, including ice making equipment given as a gift by a church member, and installing fire-proof stainless steel wall coverings behind the ranges are among the tasks done by those volunteers who have lovingly attended to the maintenance of the dining hall.
Currently, with over 300 food vendors at the Minnesota State Fair, competition is keen. Over the years, a number of strategies have been employed to increase the flow of customers at the dining hall. In 1998, when few food vendors were open, the dining hall was opened for the MSRA Back to the ‘50s Car Show which we discontinued when more and more food vendors became competitors and our volunteer base needed to be conserved for state fair days.
Partnership with Izzy’a Ice Cream added media coverage as new flavors were announced each year. Beginning in 2012 with Church Elderberry,
other flavors such as Chocolate Agate Crunch, Butter Queen Coffee, Mini Donut Batter Crunch, Dessa Night Drive and S’More Fun proved to be new favorites among food critics, including Andrew Zimmern, notable food authority. Rick Nelson, Minneapolis Star Tribune food critic, endorsed Snow-Capped Mini Waffle Sundae (with cream cheese ice cream),one of the 50 best foods at the fair in 2019.
To enhance media coverage, especially during the days of the fair for TV and radio spots, the decision was made to hire a PR firm in 2017. It was also the year that Neal St. Anthony, business columnist for the Star Tribune, wrote favorably about the dining hall operation in comparison to other food vendors at the fair. In 2012, Jane and Michel Stern, highlighted ham loaf in their Savuer magazine. Mpls St Paul magazine writer Stephanie March, wrote the story of charitable giving from the non-profit concessions at the fair: Midway Men’s Club, Salem Lutheran Church Dining Hall and Hamline Dining Hall. She writes,”Yep, via the power of Hamloaf, over the years, the Hamline’s supported Emma Norton Services, The Sheridan Story, (now Every Meal) and Feed My Starving Children, to name a few.” Freelance writers also told the stories of the 2018 Go Fund Me appeal and the 2020 Taste of Fair at Hamline opportunity in behalf of fund-raising for Hamline Church Dining Hall.
Of course, the very best kind of media attention comes with being named to the highly acclaimed New Foods list for the fair each year. Erik Hendrickson’s updated version of Swedish meatballs, Cranberry Wild Rice Meatballs served with a side of lingonberry sauce, was the proven winner in 2017. He also scored in 2018 with Bananas Foster French Toast. Harry Smith of the Today show was touring the fair and came to the dining hall for a brief interview and a taste of Bananas Foster. Several Izzy’s Ice Cream flavors were highlighted by food writers, especially the Snow- Capped Mini Waffle Sundae in 2019. Time will tell if an entry makes the New Foods list in 2022.
Hamline Church Dining Hall does not exist without its volunteers – from over 125 years to the present! We stand on the shoulders of each one who has shared in offering high quality food and radical hospitality to volunteers and those who come to eat with us. When the dining hall committee chose to order a bright yellow Betty and Elaine state fair bench, it becomes a tribute to all volunteers who have given time and energy through the years.
Dining Hall Timeline
1897 A small group of women from the Hamline Methodist Episcopal Church Ladies Aid Society sold sandwiches and cold drinks at the Minnesota State Fair, to raise money for the church. The food stand was in a larger building with other attractions, near the bandstand.
1905 A stick of dynamite, wrapped in a newspaper, was found one evening, when the cashier’s desk was cleaned out. Police took the dynamite away; its owner was never found.
1900s By the early 20th century the dining hall was in its own white wooden building with a cupola on top, near the Hippodrome/Coliseum. The building had a loft, where children would hide from time to time after getting into mischief.
Dining hall patrons enjoyed meals served on white linen tablecloths, taken home every night to be washed by hand and ironed. Fresh flowers were on every table.
Women and children volunteers met at the church and rode to the fair in church member Bert Wallace’s horse-drawn wagon. Wallace would scrub the wagon, which was used to haul coal and hay during the rest of the year, and put up side boards for his passengers.
1920s Hamline Church operated smaller food stands in multiple spaces, including food stands near the roller coaster and the main gate.
Letters were sent to all churches in the state, to encourage fairgoers to dine with Hamline.
1926 In the wake of the Christmastime 1925 fire which destroyed the church, church women made a $15,000 pledge toward a new church building. Dining hall proceeds helped pay the pledge.
1927 Hamline Church had one just dining hall again, across the street from its current location. The Fair Committee took a number of actions to equip the hall and stock the kitchen, including voting to bake as many pies as possible and buy the rest as needed.
1928 A telephone and gas heater were installed at the dining hall. The building also had three beds in a back room, for weary volunteers.
1935 Diners paid 35 cents for a full meal at the diner – meat loaf or ham loaf, boiled potatoes, coleslaw, beet pickles, pie, ice cream and beverage) was 35 cents. Second helpings were free.
1939 The Great Depression comes to an end. Only 16 church dining halls make it through tough times. Hamline Church members debated its dining hall future at length, before deciding the operation need to continue to pay the balance of the 1926 building pledge.
World War II During the era of food rationing all Minnesota State Fair concessions, including the dining halls, were issued food stamps based on the previous year’s purchase. Fresh produce, some from church members’ gardens, augmented the food supply.
1944 Hamline purchase the building on its current site, from the East Immanuel Norwegian Evangelical Church of St. Paul. The building and its contest are purchased for $900.
This building featured a “cold room” where large blocks of ice were stored, along with raw meat. This room was replaced with refrigerators.
1945 The fair was canceled during the final year of World War II
1946 The fair was canceled due to the poliomyelitis epidemic.
1950s Chow Mein, made with a recipe from a church cookbook, was a popular dish.
1962 Homemade cakes baked at church replaced pies as a cost-cutting measure. Health regulations put an end to the practice and cakes and pies were made at the fair again.
1966 It’s the final year for the “Hamburger Hut,” which began operations in 1942. Young married couples and teens ran the “hut.”
1968 The dining hall is torn down and replaced with the current building, after a vote by congregation families. Forty-four families voted for the dining hall to continue and 31 voted against.
1987 The Dining Hall Committee debated the notion of adding pizza to the menu, bit was not allowed to do so by fair officials.
1982 The dining hall began serving coffee and homemade doughnuts, which evolved into full breakfasts
1983 A rear addition is built.
1992 After so many church volunteers had received the Minnesota State Fair 50-year volunteer award, the church itself was given the award
1997 The dining hall’s 100th year was celebrated with free cake, a barbershop quartet and a visit with Minnesota United Methodist Conference Bishop John Hopkins.
1998 Hamline, Epiphany, St. Bernard’s and Salem are the four church/church school dining halls left. St. Bernard’s closed in 2009 and Epiphany in 2013.
1998 – opened in June for the MSRA Back to the 50’s Car Show; discontinued to conserve volunteer base for state fair.
2012 Izzy’s Ice Cream begins its partnership with Hamline Church.
2012 – garage door was installed in the front of the building to accommodate the sale of take-away food items, primarily breakfast coffee and rolls and Izzy’s Ice Cream
2012– Church Elderberry Ice Cream launched a successful partnership with Izzy’s Ice Cream whose owner developed a new flavor sensation each year until 2019.
2014 – Sharing a portion of dining hall proceeds began – as one writer said “Yep, via the power of Hamloaf over the years, the Hamline’s supported Emma Norton Services, The Sheridan Story, and Feed My Starving Children, to name a few.”
2017 – Cranberry Wild Rice Meatballs served with lingonberry sauce, an adaptation of our long-standing menu item Swedish meatballs, was named to the State Fair New Foods list. Neal St. Anthony, Star Tribune business columnist, detailed the success of this record-breaking year in his column on Sunday, September 10. A tribute to the longevity of Hamline Dining Hall.
2018 – The financial success of the previous year allowed the installation of a new $70,000 Hobart dishwasher to replace the 1968 model.
2018 – Bananas Foster French Toast was another hit for the State Fair New Foods list.
2018 – A GoFundMe account was created to help replace the four kitchen ranges that were partially operational.
2019 – Three new ranges are installed in the kitchen. The dining hall committee purchased a state fair bench as a tribute to all volunteers since 1897.
2020 – Minnesota State Fair is canceled because of the Covid pandemic.
2020 – Cranberry Wild Rice Meatballs and Hamloaf are offered for a Taste of Hamline in pre-order and drive-by at Hamline Church.
2021 – State Fair partially opened. Hamline Dining hall served ice cream only.
2022 – 125th anniversary of Hamline Church Dining Hall.
Dining Hall Quiz
In honor of the 120th celebration in 2017 the Ministry of Memory put together a few thing that may interest those seeking to know more about the Dining Hall’s History. Ministry of Memory compiled a fun Dining Hall Trivia quiz. Be sure to test your knowledge with the quiz here!